THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. 377 



but admit that tlie cliiualic coiiditioiis near the two poles dift'cv widely 

 from each otlier. 



In looking' at a map of tlie PoUir Basin one can not help remarking 

 the curious fact that the North Pole is so very nearly central, and a 

 glance at the Southern Hemisphere also shows a rough sort of symmetry 

 in the distribution of land and water round the South J'ole. It is a 

 curious coincideuce, if this be only accident. 



The history of the exploration of the Polar Basin is a very long and 

 a very tragic story. ]\luch has been done, but much remains to do. 

 The unex])lored regions of the Polar Basin may be estimated at 1 ,000 000 

 scpuire miles. No part of the world presents greater dit'ticultics to the 

 exjjlorer. Many brave men have perished in the enterprise, and more 

 have only Just succeeded in passing through the ordeal of hunger and 

 cold with their lives. For the most part the heroic endurance of the 

 tortures of famine has shown a marvel of discii)liiie, though occasion- 

 ally the commanders of the expeditions have had to enforce obedience 

 to the verge of cruelty, both in the case of men and of dogs. There 

 are indeed a few ghastly stories, but the records of Arctic explora- 

 tion are records of which any nation might be proud. 



Of recent years there has been but little done to explore the unknown 

 parts of the Polar Basin. Adventurous journeys in Central Africa and 

 Central Asia have somewhat eclipse<l the exploration of the Arctic 

 regions. Two visits to Greenland can not however be entirely passed 

 by in silence. In the summer of last year an expedition went to the 

 north of Greenland under the command of Lieut. Peary, succeeded in 

 reaching latitude 82°, and added material evidence to prove that 

 Greenland is an island. The expedition sailed on June G, 1891, steamed 

 up Bafitins Bay and Smiths Sound, and on July 25 dismissed the ship 

 and established themselves in m inter (juarters in McCormick Bay, on 

 the north side of Murchison Sound, in latitude 78°. They laid in a 

 stock of game for thg winter, guillemots and reindeer. A most inter- 

 esting proof of the successful organization of the expedition is the fact 

 that Mrs. Peary was one of the party, and was able to accompany her 

 husband on his sledge trip, which started on the 18th of the following- 

 April. 



It took the party a week in their dog sledges to round Inglefield Gulf, 

 during" which they discovered 30 glaciers, 10 of them of the first mag- 

 nitude. During the next three months they explored the north coast 

 of Greenland, as far east as longitude 34° west, when a great bay was 

 reached, which they named Independence Bay, as they discovered it on 

 July 4, The northern shore of this bay was free from snow and ice. 

 On August 6 they regained their winter quarters in McCormick Bay. 

 On the 8th the steamer arrived, and on the 24th they started for home, 

 reaching Philadelphia on September 23. During the sledge j(mrney 

 they traveled for a fortnight at an average elevation of 8,000 feet above 

 the sea. Besides tlieir important additions to the map of Greenland, 



